(IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications,

Vol. 3, No. 8, 2012

Review of Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) and

Gateways for Digital Oilfield delpoyments
Francis Enejo Idachaba

Ayobami Ogunrinde

Department of Electrical and Information Engineering

Covenant University Ota.
Ogun state
Nigeria

SPDC Nigeria

Abstract The increasing decline in easy oil has led to an

increasing need for the optimization of oil and gas processes.
Digital oilfields utilize remote operations to achieve these
optimization goals and the remote telemetry unit and gateways
are very critical in the realization of this objective. This paper
presents a review of the RTUs and gateways utilized in digital
oilfield architectures. It presents a review of the architecture,
their functionality and selection criteria. It also provides a
comparison of the specifications of some popular RTUs.
KeywordsDigital
Smartfields.

Oilfield; Gateway; HMI; i-fields; RTU;

I.

INTRODUCTION

The advent of Digital Oilfields, Smartfields or i-fields has

led to an increase in the need to monitor, control and automate
various systems at remote oil and gas production sites to
increase production, reduce overall production cost, and
reduce employee exposure. Control systems such as SCADA
(Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), or DCS
(Distributed Control System) using Remote Telemetry Units
and Gateways are deployed to achieve these control functions.
The RTUs and gateways comprises of various components
such as

HMI (Human Machine Interface)

RTU (Remote Terminal Unit): This collects the site
data and sends it to a station via a communications
system.
Supervisory systems/ Master station: this collects the
information from the process and control the process.
This is usually a computer.
Communication system that provides a means by
which all components communicate securely without
loss of data and information.
Digital oilfield installations require bidirectional
transmission of data from the sensors located in the field and
control signals from the control room or the office domain to
these sensors and devices located in the field. The data from
the sensors are transmitted at defined intervals or by exception
while the control algorithms used for the field devices can
either be the on/off control or a variable control. This paper
Ease of Use

II.

RTU

Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) is a microprocessor-based

device connected to sensors, transmitters or process equipment
for the purpose of remote telemetry and control.
RTUs find applications in oil and gas remote
instrumentation monitoring, networks of remote pump
stations, Environmental monitoring systems, Air traffic
equipment etc. [1]
RTUs with the aid of appropriate sensors, monitors
production processes at remote site and transmits all data to a
central station where it is collated and monitored. An RTU can
be interfaced using serial ports (RS232, RS482, and RS422) or
Ethernet to communicate with the central stations. They also
support various protocol standards such as Modbus, IEC
60870, DNP3 making it possible to interface with 3rd party
software.
III.

RTU ARCHITECTURE

The RTU architecture comprises of a CPU, volatile

memory and nonvolatile memory for processing and storing
programs and data. It communicates with other devices via
either serial ports or an onboard modem with I/O interfaces. It
has a power supply with a backup battery, surge protection
against spikes, real-time clock and a watchdog timer to ensure
that it restarts when operating in the sleep mode.[2]
Figure 1 shows the block diagram of a typical RTU
configuration. A typical RTU hardware module includes a
control processor and associated memory, analog inputs,
analog outputs, counter inputs, digital inputs, digital outputs,
communication interfaces and power supply [3]
A. Central Processing Unit (Cpu)
Current RTU designs utilize a 16bit or 32 bits
microprocessor with a total memory capacity of 256kbytes
expandable to 4 Mbytes. It also has two or three
communication ports (RS232, RS422 and RS485) or Ethernet
link. This system is controlled by a firmware and a real-time
clock with full calendar is used for accurate time stamping of
events. A watchdog timer provides a check that the RTU
program is executing regularly. The RTU program regularly
resets the watchdog timer and if this is not done within a

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(IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications,

Vol. 3, No. 8, 2012

certain time-out period the watchdog timer flags an error

condition and can sometimes reset the CPU. [3]

Figure. 1 RTU Hardware Structure [3]

B. Analog Input Modules

An analog input signal is generally a voltage or current that
varies over a defined value range, in direct proportion to a
physical process measurement. 4-20 milliamp signals are most
commonly used to represent physical measurements like
pressure, flow and temperature. [4]. Five main components
that makes up the analog input module are as follows:

Input multiplexer: This samples several analog inputs

in turn and switches each to the output in sequence.
The output goes to the analog digital converter.
Input signal amplifier: This amplifies the low-level
voltages to match the input range of the boards A/D
converter
Sample and hold circuit
A/D converter: This measures the input analog voltage
and output a digital code corresponding to the input
voltages.
Bus interface and board timing system.
Typical analog input modules features include:

8, 16, or 32 analog inputs

Resolution of 8 to 12 bits
Range of 4-20 mA
Input resistance typically 240kohms to 1 Mohms

Conversion rates typically 10 microseconds to 30

milliseconds.

C. Analog Output Module

Analog Output modules function is to convert a digital
value supplied by the CPU to an analog value by means of a
digital to analog converter. This analog representation can be
used for variable control of actuators.
Analog output modules features are as follow:

8, 16 or 32 analog outputs
Resolution of 8 or 12 bits
Conversion rate from 10 seconds to 30 milliseconds
Outputs ranging from 4-20 mA/0 to 10 volts

D. Digital Input Modules

These are used to indicate status and alarm signals [5]
E. Digital Output Modules
These modules are used to drive an output voltage at each
of the appropriate output channels with three approaches
possible.

Triac Switching: Triacs are used to achieve AC power

control. The Triac responds primarily as a switch, the
AC energy source for a portion of each alternation can
be controlled [6]
Read Relay Switching

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Vol. 3, No. 8, 2012

TTL voltage outputs

F. Power Supply Module

RTUs need a continuous power supply to function, but
there are situations where RTUs are located at quite a distance
from an electric power supply. In these cases, RTUs are
equipped with alternate power source and battery backup
facilities in case of power losses.
Solar panels are commonly used to power low-powered
RTUs, due to the general availability of sunlight. Thermo
electric generators can also be used to supply power to the
RTUs where gas is easily available like in pipelines. [4]
G. Communication interfaces
Modern RTU are designed to be flexible enough to handle
multiple communication media such as

RS 232/RS 442/RS 485

Ethernet
Dial up telephone lines/dedicated landlines
Mircrowave/MUX
Satellite
X.25 packet protocols
Radio via trunked/VHF/UHF/900 Mhz
IV.

GATEWAY

A gateway is a device with dedicated hardware and

software that translates between two different protocols,
making communication possible between networks of
different architectures and protocols. The job of a gateway is
much more complex than that of a network router or switch
due to this conversion functions. Gateways in digital oil fields
collate data from the RTUs in the field and remote sites and
integrate these data into the Companies IT network

1) Capacity: The RTU must be able to support the data

transmission frequency and the data rates. The RTU must also
have sufficient spare IOs to allow for expansion.
2) Environment Factor: The RTU must be able to withstand
the environmental factors and be designed to the required
ingress protection ratings and installed in the appropriate
hazardous area classification.
3) Control: RTUs are also used for applications requiring
different control schemes such as on/off and variable control.
Control relays serve as the control element and are connected
to the RTU and activated remotely to achieve the desired
control. During RTU selection, the type of control required
must be defined to ensure that the selected RTU supports the
control system.
4) Connectivity: The network connectivity requirements
and data formats must defined before the RTU and Gateways
are selected. The data exchange format must also be defined
before the selection of the RTU and gateways are finalized.
5) Upgradeability: The ease of firmware upgrade is also
another key parameter as it will be desired for the RTU and
gateway to be upgradeable over the air without the
requirement of un-installation and office based upgrade.
6) Transmission range: The RTU frequency and range are
to be confirmed to be suitable for the application and this is
usually confirmed by network plan. The equipment are
expected to operate within the approved frequency band and
with the required licenses.
7) Power: The power supply requirements should also be
within the required capacity and quality and these power
supply systems must be able to with stand the environmental
factors, cost and weather conditions and also be resistant to
vandalization. Options include solar panels, batteries or other
power source. Also putting into consideration cost as well.

Gateways are necessary for communication between

terminals connected to heterogeneous networks using different
protocols and having different network characteristics. They
provide the connectivity between systems at remote locations
with the target system to enable different network applications

There are various manufacturers of Remote Terminal Unit

for various functions and industries. A list of some RTU
manufactures and their products are presented in the Table 1

A gateway can function as a protocol gateway which

converts between protocols; an application gateway which
accepts inputs in one format translates it and then sends it, or a
security gateway which basically acts as a firewall securing
and filtering packets. [7]

1) Vmonitor iX-S8 Wireless RTU: An intelligent remote

terminal unit and wireless technology with low power
consumption to provide a reliable and cost effective means of
remotely monitor and automate your applications in the oil
and gas fields. [9]

Microprocessor
Motherboard
RAM
Flash
Interface boards as I/O ports
V.

RTU MANUFACTURERS

2) ControlWave Micro Hybrid RTU/PLC: A highly

programmable controller that combine the unique capabilities
of a programmable logic controller (PLC) and a remote
terminal unit (RTU) into a single hybrid controller. [10]

Components of a gateway

VI.

3) Zetron Model 1732 RTU: A cost-effective solution for

applications that need to connect widely distributed remote
sites to a central control program using radio, telephone and
wire line communications media. [11]

SELECTING THE RIGHT EQUIPEMENT

The selection of RTUs and Gateways are based on the

specifications of the implementation in terms of data type,
capacity and transmission rate. These parameters include [8]

4) Brodersen RTU32: Brodersen RTU32 RTU, PLC and

controller series based on a 32-bit platform provides RTU/PLC
with power and leading edge functionality. [12]

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Vol. 3, No. 8, 2012

5) Siemens Vicos RTU: A telecontrol with standard

SIMATIC S7 Programmable Logic controller [13]
6) Oleumtech Wireless RTU/Modbus Gateway: Wio
wireless RTU products are low cost remote terminal units that
combine traditional remote IO functionality of a standard [14]
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]

Borin Manifacturing. Borin Manifacturing, Inc. Borin [online]

http://www.borin.com/remote-terminal-unit/. [Accessed 24th July 2012]
TheWater Environment Federation, Automation of waste water
treatment facilities. WEF Press McGraw-Hill Companies, 2007.
Clarke, G.R., Reynders,D and Edwin W, SCADA protocols: DNP3,
60870.5 and related systems. Elsevier, 2004. pp.15 - 25
Shaw, W.T. Cybersecurity for SCADA systems. Pennwell books,
2006. pp.25 - 32
Sumathi S. and Surekha..P. LabVIEW based advances instrumentation
sustems. Springer, 2007. pp 242 - 246
Patrick, D.R. and Fardo, S.W. Electricity and electronics fundamentals.:
Fiarmont Press, Inc, 2008.

[7]
[8]
[9]

Zhang, P and William A. Advnced Industrial Control Technology.

2010. pp 378 379
DPS Telecom. [online] http://www.dpstele.com. [Accessed 24th July
2012]
VMonitor. VMonitor.[online] http://www.vmonitor.com. [Accessed 24 th
July 2012]

[10] Emerson
Process
Mangement.
[Online]
http://www.documentation.emersonprocess.com [Accessed 24 th July
2012]
[11] Zetron. [online] http://www.zetron.com. [Accessed 24 th July 2012]
[12] Borderson. [online] http://brodersensystems.com. [Accessed 24th July
2012]
[13] Siemens. [Online] https://concert.siemens.com. [Accessed 24 th July
2012]
AUTHORS PROFILE
Francis Idachaba (idachabafe@yahoo.com) a lecturer with Covenanrt
University Ota is currently with on a Fellowship with Shell Petroleum
Development Company in Nigeria.
Ayobami Ogunrinde (ayo.ogunrinde@gmail.com ) is currently with
SPDC in Nigeria.

TABLE 1. RTU MANUFATURERS SPECIFICATION

Vmonitor iX-S8

Control Wave Micro

Hybrid

Zetron 1732
RTU

Broderson RTU 32

Siemens
Vicos RTU

8051 MicroController running at

12.58Mhz 64KB
Data Memory
RS232
RS232/RS485
I2C

32-bit ARM 9 Processor, 33 MHz

CPU Module (Low power) 150
MHz Module

PLC

32-bit 500 Mhz CPU

with 128K L2 Cache

SIMATIC S7
300 Central Units

RS232
RS485
Ethernet

RS232

Dual Ethernet
RS232
RS232/RS422/RS485
USB

RS232
Ethernet

Comm. Protocol

Vmonitor Proprietary
Protocol
MODBUS

MODBUS, Foundation Fieldbus.

HART, DFI, CIP, DNP3, Serial
ASCII

MODBUS

MODBUS, DNP3 Suite,

ProfiNET Client,
PROFIBUS DP Master,
COMLI, IEC 61400-25

IEC60870-5,
SINAUT8-FW
PCM,
Profibus,
ProfiNET

Operation Modes

Continuous, Stand
alone and Sleep
Mode
900 MHz or 2.4 GHz
Up to 5 Miles
(-40 to 85)C
Humidity (5 90%)

Run Mode, Remote Mode, Local

Mode and Sleep Mode for Low
power application

Fail-Safe Mode

Processor
Serial Port

Radio
Distance
Operating
Temperature

902-928MHz
(-40 to 70)C Humidity (15 95%)

Power Supply

Input Power 815VDC (Battery

Powered)

9 30 VDC

Integrated
Analogue/Digital
Input

(AI): 1-5 V, 4-20mA

(DI): 3-24VAC

(AI): 1-5 V, 4-20m A

(DI): 12-24VDC

(0 to 50)C
Humidity (0
90%)
16VDC 2A
Max, 120 VAC

(AI): +/- 10
VDC, 4-20 mA

902-928MHz
(-40 to 70)C
24 48VDC
115-230 VAC/DC
115-230 VAC/DC with
UPS and Battery
(AI): 0-10V, 0-5V, +/5V, +/- 10V, 0-20mA, 420mA
(DI): 10-30VDC

(0 to 60)C
Humidity (5
95%)
24VDC, 230
VAC

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